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Saturday, 14 April 2012

Daylily Tea Cosy For Mother's Day - Crochet

I have two new ripple crochet Tea Cosies for Mother's Day.
Both are to fit small 1-2 cup Teapots. I use a small teapot most mornings, and it does go cold quite quickly so a cosy is essential. The little ones look so darn cute, I'm sure that's the main reason why I make a lot of them. Here's the first one.

Daylilies have always been a favourite in my family, with my Mother loving them.They come in several colours in Nature, and I've had so much fun the last few weeks, trying out different colours. This cosy and the next one are a variation of my Easy Ripple Tea Cosy pattern, but are completely different to each other.
ETA - I've had a couple of emails asking whether this could be made for a larger teapot. You could use the original ripple pattern, to make a similar cosy for a large teapot. Just make it taller, you won't need to crochet around the side petals, but the flower petals will look smaller on a large teapot.
When I was making this cosy, I did experiment shrinking the original pattern down to fit a small teapot, which worked fine, however I wanted to retain the larger petals so it looked more like a daylily.
I also found 6 leaves, (or stitching up the 2 side ones) on such a small cosy, looked a bit messy, so that's why I've done it differently (and because I think they look better as small cosies :-). But by all means, if you want to to experiment with a larger one, it's all good :-).

It is an open top cosy but with the draw string option it still keeps a little teapot snug and warm. It's proved very handy the last few day, if you want to top up your pot, you don't have to take the cosy off. One cup of tea is never enough on a cold morning.

The cosy is made to fit a 1-2cup teapot, measuring 35cm circumference, 12cm tall. I have quite a few pots this size and they hold close to 2 teacups.

The cosy is made with 5 colours. 1 row each of 2 colours (for this one light pink, hot pink) for the edge of the petals, a main colour for the body of the flower, then 2 different shades of green for the leaves.

You'll need -

50gms DK/ 8ply yarn for the main colour of the flower.

Small amounts of 2 other colours for the edge of the Lily petals, and 2 different greens for the leaves.

4.00mm crochet hook and a smaller 3.00 or 3.50mm hook to crochet the drawstring.

Crochet instructions are in British Terminology. Dc are used throughout so if you are used to American Terminology, our dc = your sc.Tension - 17 dc over 10cm using 4mm (g) hook - tension checked over a straight piece of crochet, not over the ripple stitch pattern.

Terms -

dec over next 3 sts - insert hook in next st, yo & draw up a loop, miss next st, insert hook in next st, yo & draw up a loop, yo & draw through all 3 loops on hook.

dec over next 2 sts - Insert hook in next st, yo & draw up a loop, insert hook in next st, yo & draw up a loop, yo & draw through all 3 loops on hook.

MAKE 2 -FRONT & BACK
You will be beginning at the petals and finishing with the leaves, with this cosy. With your first chosen colour for the edge of the petals -1st Row - Make 42 ch, miss first ch, 1dc in next 9 ch, 3dc in next ch, 1dc in next 9 ch, dec over next 3 ch, 1 dc in next 9 ch, 3dc in next ch, 1 dc in next 9 ch.
Change to 2nd flower colour.Turn.
To change colours at the end of a row, work your last dc, but join in the new colour and use it to work the last "yarn around hook and pull through 2 loops on hook" to finish the dc.

2nd Row - Work in back loop of every dc to give a ridged effect.

1ch, dec over next 2 sts, 1dc in next 8dc, 3dc in next dc (which should be the middle dc of the 3dc in last row), 1dc in next 9 dc, dec over next 3sts, 1 dc in next 9 dc, 3dc in next dc, 1dc in next 8dc, dec over last 2 dc. Change to main flower colour.
Turn.
At this stage use a stitch marker or small safety pin to mark that this is the right side of the work, it will make it easier later.

Continue repeating the 2nd row now. Crochet 16 more rows for the flower.

Change to the darker green and work 4 rows.
Change to light green and work 4 rows fasten off.
Do another side the same, also marking the right side

From here on, I'll use photo's of a purple Daylily cosy. This one is white, mauve, purple.

The one in the Title photo was the first one I made and was pretty experimental. I was so excited I forgot to take progress photos, so the following ones will be much clearer.
Turn the pieces so the green is on the bottom, the flower on the top.
Sew in any ends you don't use for sewing up along the way.

Placing the right sides facing in,(the flower petals and leaves will be turned out revealing the right side).
Using a flat seam, sew up a small amount at the bottom of each side, leave room for your handle and spout (depending on your own teapot). Now continue sewing up the side until you are in line with the valleys in the ripple. Stop & fasten off, at the first row of the main flower colour ie before you reach the first 2 colours of the flower.
Try it on your cosy, it should be quite a snug fit, fold out the petals, it will look like this.

Now you need to crochet around the the side petals.

With the inside facing you (the right side once turned out) & using mauve, attach with a sl st close to the mauve on the other side of the petal, and dc down to the v and back up the other side finishing at the mauve on the other side. Fasten off and turn.

This photo just won't turn up the right way, so you're looking at the right hand side.

Fasten white to the white on the tip of the petal. Dc across again, to mimic the ridge on the other petals, dc in the front loop of each mauve dc from the previous row. Finish again with a sl st. Turn.

Miss first dc, dc across, but on this last row, when you come to the V, decrease over 3 dc, as you have done in the ripple pattern. Finish with a slst & fasten off.

All that's left to do is turn up your leaves to the outside and sew in place. I didn't use buttons for these cosies, instead I put a stitch about halfway up the leaf, so they curl out a little.

Your cosy should be a snug fit, which will help the petals sit nicely. If you find the cosy stretches with use, use a drawstring to draw the top in just a little. Using the smaller hook, make a ch long enough for a drawstring and thread it through the stitches about 4cm under the valleys.

That's about it. Let me know if there are any mistakes, or if there's anything you don't understand.
Of course use any different colour combos you like. I'll put up pics of other colours I've done shortly - Jen.

Lovely pattern, and great tutorial! I love the way you did the construction on this - makes we wish I had a teapot! I featured a link to it this morning on my blog: http://www.mooglyblog.com/mothers-day-crochet-free-patterns/ Thanks for sharing your pattern!

Made one of these for my sister-in-law. Super cute design, she loves it! Thanks for making this available.This is what mine looks like- http://www.ravelry.com/projects/faeryeeb/daylily-tea-cosy-for-mothers-day

Thanks for your lovely comment. I just wizzed over to ravelry to have a look at your's, it looks fabulous, such pretty colours! The teapot in the pic looks gorgeous as well, thanks for the feedback, I love it when I get to see some other's cosies finished - Jen

Jen, thanks so much for posting this lovely pattern. I have been looking for a cosy to make for my cousin for a small teapot with a wide circumference, and this will make a really nice gift. Hope you're having a lovely day :o)Priya

Hi, I know the way we all crochet can differ greatly. I've included the gauge from the easy ripple tea cosy pattern, which is the same pattern as this.

Tension - 17 dc over 10cm using 4mm (g) hook - tension checked over a straight piece of crochet, not over the ripple stitch pattern, using 8ply/DK yarn. Worsted weight yarn is thicker than our 8ply. Our dc is the american sc. I've only included width in the gauge, the height can be determined by the size of your tea pot so it can be adjusted for individual needs. Hope this helps :-)

Lovely pattern, hun! this is my first attempt at crocheting something completely, so im having a little trouble with the pattern. is there any way you could send me a visual tutorial or something on how to do all the increases and decreases and what-not? I'm a knitter so its difficult for me to figure out where things go. If you can, you have NO idea how much I appreciate it. Thank you so much, Jen, and have a lovely day.

I am confused by the photos. Your finished lily has six petals (as all good lilies do) but your picture of front and back only leads to four petals (points) Please I do not want to start and have to rip out and chain more to get 3 points for front and back instead of two on each side. I am visual in this sense, I cannot tell from the directions how many petals there will be from the instructions. (and can you start with the greens and work yp to the petals?

I love reading your comments, and I'm very happy to help you with any questions about my patterns. The comments are moderated only to stop spam mail coming through, so your comment will be published as soon as I get a chance to check them - thanks Jen.

About Me

Hi my name is Jenny. Thank you so much for visiting my blog. I live with my family in Brisbane Australia. I love to knit & crochet Tea Cosies.
I'm happy for you to link my patterns, please use only one photo with the link. Pasting my entire patterns into other sites or using my photos otherwise without linking is a big no no - thanks.
I also stitch, make cloth dolls, collect vintage & toy sewing machines & teapots (of course).